Combined piano and graphophone.



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COMBINED PlANO AND GRAPHOPHONE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13, 1916.. 1,242,790. Patented Oct. 9,1917.

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J. FROESS.

COMBINED PIANO AND GRAPHOPHONE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 13. 1916.

1,242,790. I Patented Oct. 9,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- JACOB J. FROESS, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

COMBINED PIANO AND GRAPHOPHONE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

Application filed October 13, 1916. Serial No. 125,373.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAooB J. Fnonss, citizen of the United States, residing at Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Combined Pianos and 'Grraphophones; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The principal object of my invention, is to so combine a piano and graphophone, that the piano may be used to accompany vocal selections or the like on the graphophone, as a matter of entertainment, and also as a matter of instruction for those who desire to practice an accompaniment to the vocal or instrumental music produced by the mechanism of the talking machine.

A further object of my invention is to provide mechanism for winding the graphophone motor shaft from the central pedal of the piano.

A still further object of my invention is to arrange mechanism within the piano case for connecting the forte pedal of the piano with the graphophone damper, so that the full tones of the graphophone may be heard when the forte pedal is depressed by the performer.

WNith the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view, which will become apparent, as the nature of the invention is better understood,the present invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts, and in the details of construction hereinafter described, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within the scope of what is claimed and without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

My invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which I have shown one form of my invention selected by me for purposes of illustration, and the said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

Referring to the drawings Figure 1 is a front view of a manually operable piano having a graphophone and record cabinet mounted in the upper end of the piano case.

Fig. 2 is a detail horizontal sectional view of the graphophone horn and horn damper, which is controlled from the forte pedal of the piano.

Fig. 8 is a detail perspective showing the mechanism connecting the damper with the forte pedal.

In the drawings, 1 designates the case of an ordinary manually operable piano, provided within its upper end with a shelf (not shown) upon which rests a graphophone 2 having a horn 3 arranged alongside thereof, and a record cabinet l having a shelf 5 and a partition 6. A door 7 is hinged to the upper portion of the front board 8 of the piano case and supports 9 have their ends connected to said door and the sides of the piano case, for supporting said door in horizontal position after the same has been opened to expose the graphophone and record case.

The graphophone 2 is provided with an ordinary spring motor 10 which may be wound by a shaft 10 through the medium of a detachable crank 11, or by means of mechanism connected with the center pedal of the piano, which will be hereinafter described. An ordinary rotary record table 12 is suitably driven by the 'raphophone motor and a tone arm 13 is rotatably connected at one end to the top board 14 of the horn and is provided at its opposite end with a sound box 15 carrying a stylus 16 which cooperates with a record on the table 12, whereby the sounds are conducted to said horn.

The horn is preferably made of wood and is provided at its rear with a sound proof chamber, which is separated from the flaring portion of the horn by a vertical partition 17 having an opening 18 for the emis sion of the sounds from said chamber. This opening 18 provides the only outlet for the sounds from the sound proof chamber and it is normally tightly closed by a damper 19, which is rigidly carried by a rock shaft 20, that is freely mounted in bearings 21 upon the rear of said partition 17, and a coil spring 22 is connected to one of said bearings and to the shaft 20 for normally maintaining said damper in closed position. A crank 23 is rigid with the rock shaft and a link 24 has its upper end pivotally connected at 25 to said crank and its lower end pivotally connected at 26 to the rear end of the forte pedal 27 of the piano, so that the damper is opened each time the forte pedal is depressed by the performer. It will, therefore, be apparent that the full tones of the graphophone and piano will be emitted simultaneously when the forte pedal is depressed.

In order to wind the graphophone motor from the center pedal of the piano, I have provided the graphophone shaft 10 with a rigidly connected sprocket wheel 28, connected by a sprocket chain 29 to a sprocket 30 rigidly carried by a shaft 31, mounted in bearings in the lower portion of the piano case for free rotary movement. The shaft 31 also carries a rigidly mounted ratchet 32, operated by a pawl 33, which is forced against the ratchet by a leaf spring 34, and is connected at its lower end to the central pedal 35 of the piano. By this construction, when the pedal 35 is operated by the foot of the performer, it raises the pawl 33 and causes the ratchet to turn the shaft 31, and with it the sprocket chain 29, so that the motor shaft 10 is turned to wind the graphophone motor.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that I have provided an improved combined piano and graphophone, which may be operated separately or together, and I have arranged the graphophone within the piano in such manner that it will not detract from the appearance of the piano case.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a piano, of a graphophone having a horn provided with a damper, and means for operating said damper from one of the piano pedals.

2. The combination with a piano, of a graphophone having a horn provided with a normally closed damper, and mechanism connecting said damper with the forte pedal of the piano, whereby the operation of said pedal will open said damper.

3. The combination with a piano, of a graphophone having-a horn provided with a damper, a rock shaft having a crank upon Copies of this patent may be obtained for which the damper is rigidly mounted, and a link connecting said damper with the forte pedal of the piano.

4:. The combination with a piano having a forte pedal, of a graphophone mounted in the piano case and provided with a horn having a partition provided with an opening, a rock shaft mounted in hearings in said horn and provided with a rigidly connected damper for closing said opening, a coiled spring connecting said shaft and one of said bearings, a crank provided upon said shaft, and a link connecting said crank and said forte pedal.

5. The combination with'a piano, of a graphophone having a spring motor, a winding shaft for said motor, and winding means connecting said shaft with one of the piano pedals, whereby the pedal winds the spring of the motor.

6. The combination with a piano, of a graphophone having a spring motor, a winding shaft for said motor, a sprocket wheel mounted on said shaft, a pawl and ratchet mechanism connected to one of the piano pedals, a sprocket wheel operated by said pawl and ratchet mechanism, and a chain connecting said sprocket wheels for joint movement.

7. The combination with a manually operable piano, of a graphophone mounted in the piano case and provided with a spring motor, and mechanism connecting said motor with one of the piano pedals, whereby the operation of' said pedal will wind said emitted by the graphophone may be con trolled by said pedal.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

JACOB J. FROESS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

